I Stopped At...

2010/11/21 The annual Katina Ceremony held at the Mejirodai Sri Lankan Buddhist temple was held on 21st  Sunday,of November 2010. It started at 7 o`clock in the evening with the Buddha Pooja at the nearby Japanese Temple.   The playing of the Sri Lankan traditional drum signifies the start of the ceremony.   Monks are seated and the listeners are seated below the monks sitting level. After the traditional Sri Lankan way of starting the Japanese chief monk starts chanting in the Japanese way. We followed the Sri Lankan chantings but the Japanese chantings were little bit difficult to follow.  Monks leave the Japanese temple in a row to the Sri Lankan temple taking the "katina poojawa" with them in a parade. Katina Poojawa means the sacred cheevaras and Pirith book kept in another place away from the temple. Monks keep them away from the temple to keep them safe from the rains in early ages, because the mo...

Story1 Orihime is a princess who wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa which is  Milky Way in English . She worked very hard every day to weave clothes. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet or fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter,  the  father arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger,  the  father separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. The father was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if she worked hard and finished her weaving. T...

07/08/2010 七夕祭り - Tanabata matsuri of Sendai is one of the biggest ceremonial occasions in the Touhoku area  of Japan. This is  normally held for three consecutive days, and this year it was held on 6th ,7th and  8th of August.People from all　over Japan gather in Sendai in this period to see the ceremony. Schools are closed and new transportation services, shops, services and decorations change the daily routines of Sendai. I had the chance to witness the Tanabata ceremony on the 7th of August 2010. It is a parade where the Sendai people dance and perform their traditional dances, dramas and arts. The main road is closed and audience gather on the pavement and the road. Well, I could manage to find a place at the very front, on the road where one can witness the opening and closing ceremonies. The opening ceremony of the 2nd day of Tanabata The opening announcement is made and once hte reading is over the assistant in th...